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The Big Deal: Will a civilian review of G20 allow us to move forward?

Amid a fraught climate, a civilian review of police actions during the G20 summit in Toronto is scheduled to begin this week.

By Sarah BarmakSpecial to The Star

Fri., May 27, 2011

The world has moved on, but Toronto is still mired in 2010.

This year’s G8 and G20 summits in France are the stuff of current international news. But here, no one is much interested in commenting on how Stephen Harper has been performing alongside world leaders, or his plans for the G20 in Cannes in November. Somehow, we just can’t seem to pay attention.

It might have something to do with the way we’ve been constantly reliving the gong show that was the G20 in this city last year.

Only last week, fresh video surfaced showing Dorian Barton appearing to be kicked, hit with batons and dragged by police with riot gear in the streets while the summit went on. The Special Investigations Unit decided for the third time to reopen its probe into what happened, after Toronto Police announced they would give more information about their ID of a cop appearing to be attacking Barton in a photo.

We’ve been reliving the fiasco because, as so many have lamented, only one of the many investigations into what exactly happened in this city during the G20 weekend has been tabled.

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With answers from investigators elusive, moving forward has been impossible.

It is in this fraught climate that a civilian review of police actions during the G20 summit in Toronto is scheduled to begin this week, with a first hearing set for 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday at Metro Hall. Two later hearings will be held June 6 at the Etobicoke Civic Centre and June 13 at the Scarborough Civic Centre.

Launched on Sept. 23 of last year by the Toronto Police Services Board, the Independent Civilian Review will be conducted by retired judge John W. Morden. It’s billed as a chance for the public to give input on the role civilian oversight should play in the policing of future events, as well as whether the police strategy last year was “effective.”

Now there’s a novel question. Can’t imagine the public’s response to that one.

“Civilian oversight” of police can mean something as narrow as public complaints about specific actions by the cops. But it also refers to the entire system by which the public outside the justice system holds the police accountable for their actions.

In theory.

Some have questioned whether the public hearing will really matter in practice, however, especially with so many other reviews and investigations having failed to get results. A glance at the Facebook page titled “Canadians Demanding a Public Inquiry into Toronto G20” shows members scoffing at the hearing.

“BUT do not expect any REAL answers or justice out of this,” wrote one angry user.

Indeed, the specific question the public has been invited to speak on — “What role should civilian oversight play with respect to the policing of major events?” — sounds calculated to be both fatuously vague (what the heck are “major events”?) and hypothetical.

The website says speakers will be interrupted if they stray from the question. But it’s hard to imagine anyone who was kettled at Queen St. and Spadina Ave. last year actually keeping their submissions confined to potential “major events” in the future — or sitting down when told by some functionary.

There are signs there is healthy public interest in the hearings. The deadline for members of the public who wish to participate to submit official forms has been extended until Tuesday.

Cynical as we have become, it’s clear Toronto is still willing to try anything that will allow us to move forward. Let’s hope it’s not a wasted effort.

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